Political Blackmail

Published:First published inProletaryNo. 10, September 6 (August 24), 1917.

      Published according to theProletarytext.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1977,

      Moscow,Volume 25,

      pages261-264.Translated:Transcription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive.  

      2002You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work, as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

Blackmailis the extortion of money under threat of exposing
    certain facts or invented “stories” which may be
    disagreeable to the person concerned, or under threat of causing
    him some other unpleasantness.

Politicalblackmail is the threat of exposing, or the actual
    exposure, of true, but more often invented, “stories” with
    the aim of causing an opponent political damage, of slandering
    him, of depriving him of the possibility of engaging in political
    activity, or of making it difficult for him.

Ourrepublican and—please excuse the term—even democratic
    bourgeois and petty-bourgeois people proved themselves to be
    heroes of political blackmail by starting a “campaign” of
    defamation, lies and slander against the parties and political
    leaders that do not suit them. Tsarism persecuted crudely,
    savagely, brutally. The republican bourgeoisie persecute in adirtyway, striving to besmirch the reputation of the hated
    proletarian revolutionary and internationalist by slander, lies,
    insinuations, defamation, rumours, etc., etc.

TheBolsheviks in particular have had the honour of
    experiencing these methods of persecution used by the republican
    imperialists. In general, the Bolshevik might apply to himself the
    well-known words of the poet:

Hehears the voice of approbationNot in the dulcet sounds of praise,But in the savage cries of
	indignation![1]

Hehears the voice of approbationNot in the dulcet sounds of praise,But in the savage cries of
	indignation![1]

Savagecries of indignation at the Bolsheviks rang out from
    all bourgeois and nearly all petty-bourgeois papers almostimmediatelyafter the beginning of the Russian
      revolution. And the Bolshevik, the internationalist, thesupporter of the proletarian revolution, may justly hear the
      voice of approbation in these savage cries of indignation, for
      the fierce hatred of the bourgeoisie is often the best proof of
      faithful and honest service to the cause of the proletariat by
      the slandered, baited and persecuted.

Theblackmailing nature of the slanderous methods of the
    bourgeoisie may be illustrated best of all by an example which
    doesnotconcern our Party, namely, the “affair” of the
    Socialist-Revolutionary Chernov. Some members of the Cadet Party,
    notorious slanderers headed by Milyukov and Hessen, trying to
    intimidate or expel Chernov, started a campaign, baiting him for
    his allegedly “defeatist” articles abroad, and for his
    association with persons supposed to have received money from
    German imperialist agents. The campaign gathered strength. It was
    taken up by all bourgeois papers.

Afterwardsthe Cadets and S.R.s “came to terms” on a
    certain composition of the Cabinet. And lo and behold! The Chernov
    “affair” is dropped! It was dropped in a few days, without
    trial or examination, without publishing documents, without
    questioning witnesses, without presenting the decision of
    experts. When the Cadets were dissatisfied with Chernov, they
    began a slanderous “affair”. When the Cadets had come to
    terms politically with Chernov, at least for a while, the
    “affair” was dropped.

Thisis a graphic example of political blackmail. Baiting in
    the newspapers, slander, and insinuations serve as a weapon of
    political struggle and political revenge in the hands of the
    bourgeoisie and such scoundrels as the Milyukovs, Hessens,
    Zaslavskys, Dans, etc. Once the political aim is attained, the
    “case” against X or Y is dropped, showing the dirty
    character, base dishonesty, and blackmailing nature of those who
    started it.

Forit is obvious that one who doesnotpractise blackmail
    would not discontinue his revelations—if he were prompted by
    honest motives—no matter what political changes took place; he
    would in any circumstances bring his revelations to a conclusion,
    to a court sentence, to a point where the public was fully
    informed, wherealldocuments were collected and published, or he
    would openly and explicitly admit that he had made a mistake or
    had misinterpreted the facts.

Thecase of Chernov, who is not a Bolshevik, clearly
    demonstrates the true nature of the blackmailing crusade against
    the Bolsheviks by the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois papers. When
    the political aim of those knights and hangers-on of capital
    seemed to them to have been reached, when the Bolsheviks had
    been arrested and their newspapers closed down, the blackmailersfell silent! Having at their disposal every means of revealing the
    truth—the press, money, aid from the foreign bourgeoisie, the
    co-operation of “public opinion” of the whole bourgeoisie of
    Russia, and the friendly support of the state power of one of the
    largest countries of the world—having all this at their
    disposal, the heroes of the anti-Bolshevik crusade, the Milyukovs
    and Hessens, the Zaslavskys and Dans,fell silent!

Itis becoming clear to every fair-minded person, as it at once
    became clear to class-conscious workers, whose entire life
    prepares them for a quick understanding of the methods of the
    bourgeoisie, that the Milyukovs and Hessens, the Zaslavskys and
    Dans, etc., etc., arepolitical blackmailers. We must make it
    perfectly clear, must explain it, to the masses, write about it in
    the papers every day, collect documents about it for a pamphlet,
    boycott the blackmailers, and so on, and so forth. These are the
    methods of struggle worthy of the proletariat in combating slander
    and blackmail!

Oneof the latest to suffer from blackmail was our comrade,
    Kamenev. He has “withdrawn from public activity” until his
    case is examined. We think that a mistake. It is exactly what the
    blackmailers wanted. They do not want to examine his case. Kamenev
    should merely have countered the scoundrels with the trust of his
    own party, and let the dogs ofRech,Birzhevka,Dyen,Rabochaya Gazetaand other filthy rags bark.

Ifour Party were to consent to the suspension of public
    activities by its leaders because they had been slandered by the
    bourgeoisie, the Party would suffer terribly; it would cause harm
    to the proletariat and make its enemies happy. For the bourgeoisie
    have many papers; they have even more blackmailing, venal pens
    (like those of Zaslavsky and

      Co.), and it would be only too easy for them to “suspend”
      our Party workers! The bourgeoisie are not interested in
      examining the case, in getting to the root of the matter.

Thatwon’t do, comrades! We must not give in to the clamour of
    the bourgeois press! We must not please those blackmailing
    scoundrels, the Milyukovs, Hessens and Zaslavskys. We must rely on
    the proletarians’ verdict, the verdict of the class-conscious
    workers in our Party, which numbers 240,000 internationalists. We
    mustn’t forget that internationalists are persecuted throughout
    the world by the bourgeoisie allied with the defencists, through
    lies, slander and blackmail.

Wemust stand firm in branding the blackmailers. We must firmly
    submit our slightest doubts for the class-conscious workers, for
    our Party, to judge. We trust our Party. We see in it the
    intelligence, honour and conscience of our times. We see the only
    guarantee of success for the emancipation movement of the working
    class in a world alliance of revolutionary internationalists.

Noyielding to the “public opinion” of those who sit in
    one Cabinet with the Cadets, who shake the hands of the
    Milyukovs, Dans and Zaslavskys!

Downwith the political blackmailers! Scorn and boycott them!
    Always expose their infamous names to the workers! We must
    unswervingly follow our own path, keep our Party in working order,
    and even protect its leaders from wasting their time on
    mud-slingers and their filthy slander.

[1]Thelines are from Nekrasov’s poem “Blessed Is the Unmalicious
Poet”.